Former Olympic rower Harold Backer pleads not guilty to fraud in securities case
Backer, who was missing for nearly 18 months, was charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000
An investment dealer and former Olympic rower who went missing for nearly 18 months has pleaded not guilty to two fraud charges.
Harold Backer was not in B.C. provincial court during a hearing Wednesday in Victoria, but his lawyer entered the not guilty plea on his client's behalf.
Backer has elected to be tried by judge alone in a trial that is expected to last up to two weeks.
He was charged with two counts of fraud over $5,000 after he turned up at the Victoria Police Department's headquarters on April 13.
The 54-year-old man disappeared after he told his family he was going for a bike ride on Nov. 3, 2015. Crown prosecutor John Neal said outside court he doesn't know where Backer was during those months.
He said Backer has not told the Crown or police where he went.